Paramount has reportedly agreed to screen its forthcoming Mike Meyers comedy The
Love Guru to a group of Hindu leaders in the U.S. in an apparent effort to quell
growing criticism of the movie among Hindu organizations in the U.S. and India, Indian
newspapers reported. Over the weekend, Lila D. Sharma, president of the India Heritage
Panel in Chandigarh, India, said in a statement, "Hollywood is trying to make money
by laughing at our holy men and in the process creating a stereotype." The Indian
news website Merinews.com said in an editorial, "With all the ridicule showered at
our holy men and women in the film The Love Guru, we should not only brace
ourselves against Hollywood comedian Mike Myers, but also assert our rights to not
let aliens poke fun at us when we revere our revered ones!" In the U.S., Raja Zed, president
of the Universal Society of Hinduism, said that the trailer for the movie "appears
to be lampooning Hinduism. ... It perpetuates stereotypes of Hindus." Paramount spokesp
erson Jessica Rovins responded, "It is our full intention to screen the film for
Rajan Zed and other Hindu leaders in the U.S. once we have a finished print." The
movie, she added, "is a comedy and the purpose is to entertain, and we are not making
this movie to offend anybody."